1980: "Maniac"

                         Maniac is an 1980 slasher film starring Joe Spinell as Frank Zito, a lonely and deeply disturbed serial killer who goes on a killing spree throughout Manhattan.

                       Maniac is vile, ugly, and repellant. Not to mention, one of the best slasher films of the 1980's. Bolstered by a strong lead performance by Spinell, it is a tense, scuzzy experience that makes one want to rush to the nearest shower. That is a compliment, by the way.
                      Frank Zito is an amalgam of every serial killer trope you could imagine: his disordered one-room apartment with its posters of women and odd picture of fetuses and organs, his collection of doll-faced mannequins (wearing freshly plucked "wigs" for good measure), a creepy obsession with his dead mother, his regressive child-like blubbering, while at the same time, being able to be disarmingly charismatic like Ted Bundy. You could almost argue that the film piles it on a little thick to the point where he might seem like a stereotype. But, it relies on a compelling performance by reliable character actor Joe Spinell to help ground the character. Spinell is perfect in the role, with his beady eyes and pockmarked face; the kind of unattractive actor that Hollywood is too afraid to cast nowadays. In fact, I feel this could have been a star-making turn for Spinell if the film had been more respected.
                       The movie almost achieves a sort of Taxi Driver-like sympathy for its main character (we are with him almost every waking minute) and, despite being revolted by Zito, I actually sort of rooted for him when he's on the verge of a relationship with a young photographer (played by Caroline Munro). He seems like he's finally close to filling a void in his life (despite the long trail of murders). When he attacks her in the graveyard, you feel somewhat betrayed in the same way that Travis Bickle betrayed us when he goes on his violent spree against the pimps.
                       And yes, this film is violent. Is it necessary? Probably not (I'll admit, it's a bit exaggerated), but it's like a nicely needed cherry on top of a bloody sundae. The violence does actually work and enhances what is already a horrific nightmare of a film. I don't care what Gene Siskel thinks; watching Tom Savini get his head blown up by a shotgun is pretty horrifying.

                      This is a deeply disturbing, unnerving character study that ranks with the likes of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.